Interfacial plasmon engineering in bamboo/PVA/chitosan nanofibers: Laser-ablated Au nanoparticles for visible-light photocatalytic water treatment

Gold nanoparticles were synthesized via surfactant-free laser ablation and incorporated into electrospun bamboo/poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan nanofibers for plasmonic photocatalysis. Comprehensive characterization via FE-SEM, FTIR, Raman, TGA, and UV–Vis spectroscopy revealed the synergistic integration of renewable
bamboo biocomponents with laser-ablated Au nanoparticles. At pH 10, Bamboo/Au/PVA/CS-2 nanofibers achieved 70.55% methylene blue degradation in 240 min, a 1.8-fold improvement over the PVA/CS baseline (50.27%), with a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.0038 min$^{-1}$. Radical scavenger experiments confirmed that superoxide radicals (•O₂$^-$ ) and photogenerated holes (h$^+$) are the dominant reactive species, thereby elucidating the SPR-assisted charge-transfer mechanism. These results demonstrate that bamboo-derived, Au-modified PVA/CS nanofibers represent a promising class of eco-friendly, plasmon-enhanced photocatalysts for
sustainable water treatment, establishing an innovative platform for colloid-interface engineering in environmental remediation.